(Touhou) Myouren Temple

Written by Atmo.

Myouren TempleThe Myouren Temple (命蓮寺みょうれんじ Myourenji), also the Palanquin Ship (聖輦船せいれんせん Seirensen), was originally a ship capable of sailing through the sky, where it was landed directly on top of theHall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum and renovated into a temple. In its original ship form, it was capable of traveling toMakai. The temple can still transform back into its ship form wheneverByakuren Hijiri chooses to.

Common KnowledgeThe Palanquin Ship was created byByakuren Hijiri and given toMinamitsu Murasa in order to win over her trust. The design itself is based on the ship that Minamitsu died on. It was eventually buried underground after Byakuren was sealed away by humans, but popped up on the surface ofGensokyo during the events ofSubterranean Animism. It was temporarily used as a simple granary, but was later renovated into a temple which was named after Byakuren's brother,Myouren Hijiri.

The temple was purposly landed bang above theHall of Dreams' Great Mausoleum so that Byakuren could keep an eye on the seal onToyosatomimi no Miko; as asaint ofhumans, it's clear the two would naturally be at odds. Ironically, this choice ended up being exactly why the seal was broken in the first place. After the intervention of the main character in the events ofTen Desires, the now-revived "residents" of the Mausoleum appear to have been pacified for the moment.

During the events ofHopeless Masquerade, the temple in its original ship form is used as the setting for a stage.

There are many youkai at the temple training as monks under Byakuren. However, they are still inexperienced and undisciplined, as displayed duringTen Desires. She seems to have her hands full with them, as many of the youkai can also be seen at parties eating meat and drinking alcohol, both of which are prohibited in the Buddhist faith.

Byakuren has apparently turned away certain youkai from entering the temple, with the reason that those specific youkai would never be able to overcome being a natural enemy of humans. Two of the youkai in particular wereYamame Kurodani andRin Kaenbyou. She also explains that the underground youkai in particular, who are living in what is essentially a society without rules, would be unfit for training under the Buddhist faith.

Adventurers & the IconByakuren trusts in her students and on Budhism monks or believers of other parts of the world. She is kind with them, and can help them with simple quests or tasks (given from Human Village). If a big Incident is happening and she isn’t ready or free to go solve it she will pass this quest to adventurers who were (conveniently) visiting the temple.

HistoryWhen the heroines enter the ship in Stage 4 ofUndefined Fantastic Object, they expect to find treasure; however, the ship is empty, as it had been lying underground for over a thousand years. Minamitsu pilots the ship toMakai and back during and after Stage 4, Stage 5, and Stage 6. After the events of Undefined Fantastic Object, the ship landed near theHuman Village with the help ofSuwako Moriya, who levelled the ground.[1]

The temple then serves as the setting for Stage 2 ofTen Desires. The heroines approach the temple in search of answers as to the recent outbreak ofdivine spirits, and are confronted by the new monk-in-trainingKyouko Kasodani, who attempts to drive them away. Stage 3 reveals agraveyard adjacent to the temple, in whichKogasa Tatara now lives, along withYoshika Miyako, who was tasked with guarding the area for someone.

The True DangerEverything will be fine if the Taoists don’t make any move at all, or the Temple be attacked by some random force; Byakuren is a good person, but will do anything to save her beloved students.